


take my hand and I'll take yours

by piano_gavin



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Minor Injuries, minor offscreen violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:42:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24888532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/piano_gavin/pseuds/piano_gavin
Summary: She didn't need an excuse to touch her partner, of course. That didn't mean she wouldn't take any that came her way.-Four times Daisy held Basira's hand, and one time Basira held Daisy's.
Relationships: Basira Hussain/Alice "Daisy" Tonner
Comments: 8
Kudos: 26





	take my hand and I'll take yours

**Author's Note:**

> For a gift exchange in the server I'm in! I hope you like it, Val :)  
> Warning for minor injuries and discussion of stitching wounds, although that part is skipped over.

The cardboard cup was dropped onto her desk without flourish. It was too full; a drop spilled out of the opening on the top, staining the lid brown.

“Here,” Basira said, dragging her chair next to Daisy’s and settling down.

“What’s this?”

Basira raised an eyebrow at her. “Coffee, obviously.” She raised her own cup to her lips and took a sip. “It’s lunch. Stop working and take a break with me.”

That wasn’t technically true; both of them had worked straight through lunch and it was nearing five already. She could definitely use the caffeine. “Thanks.”

The coffee was black and strong, nothing added to it to soften the taste. Basira wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know how you drink that,” she said.

Daisy glanced at her partner’s tea with its two sugars. “It’s not supposed to be good, it’s supposed to wake you up.”

“Like you need any help with that. You wake up with the dawn.”

“Is it dawn?”

That earned her a little laugh. “Here, let me try yours.” Her hand reached out to take Daisy’s cup.

Daisy had watched her try this before. Maybe it will be different this time, Basira would say. Maybe I won’t hate it. Daisy took her hand before she could take the coffee. “You won’t like it, I promise.”

“Maybe it will be different this time-”

Yep. “Okay, okay.” Daisy sighed and used her free hand to pass over the cup. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

They both knew what was going to happen. She made a valiant effort, but Basira couldn’t quite hide the face she made. She could hide even less the twitching of her hand, still in Daisy’s. “Yeah. Okay. Don’t know what I expected.”

Daisy smirked at her. “Can I have my drink back?”

“Depends. Can I have my hand back?”

“Oh, no, what a shame. Guess I have to have tea at lunch instead.”

Her partner laughed, taking her own drink with her free hand before Daisy could steal it.

Her other hand didn’t let go.

-

Daisy swore, struggling to pull the key out of the lock. One day she was going to get angry and snap it off and then what would she do? She sighed and put down the takeout bag, resigned to fighting with the door. It took a few tries but she was able to remove the key without damage. As she opened the door, her irritation faded away with the promise of home and an evening with her partner.

The front room was lit only by the dull glow of their old table lamp that never quite got bright enough. The other lights were more than enough to make up for it, but it seemed Basira hadn’t remembered to turn them on.

She sat curled in the armchair, book in hand and three stacked on the table next to her. She didn’t look up when Daisy pushed the door shut with her hip or when she flicked on the overhead light. The pages kept turning, so Daisy sat down.

She looked so peaceful like this, too focused to notice her glasses slipping down her nose. Daisy wanted nothing more than to fix them, perhaps leave her hand lingering on her cheek. If it wouldn’t have distracted Basira, she would have. As it was, Daisy just watched her read, taking in every expression that graced her face as she did.

Basira finally moved her bookmark in between the pages and closed it. When she noticed Daisy sitting next to her, she smiled. “Hi, Daisy. How long have you been home for?”

“Not too long. How long have you been sitting there?”

“Not too long,” Basira echoed. The four-book-tall stack next to her said otherwise, but she was doing an admirable job of pretending it wasn’t there. “You brought dinner?” She rotated her hands back and forth, clearly in a little pain.

Daisy took one of her hands and rubbed at the base of Basira’s thumb. Basira sighed. “Never mind that, we can eat later. You have to move around, you cramp up if you stay still too long.”

“I know that, it’s just-”

Basira lost track of time when she was reading. Even if she hadn’t already known that, the dim light and the forgotten tea on the table would attest to it. “I know.” Daisy didn’t like that Basira was prone to accidentally injuring herself, but she would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy helping her feel better afterwards.

The two of them sat in silence, Daisy gently massaging Basira’s sore hands until they didn’t hurt anymore.

The takeout was cold by the time they remembered it.

-

“Your hair has been up too long, hasn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, Daisy knew. Basira made her observations and came to her conclusions and wouldn’t budge unless given very compelling evidence to change her mind.

Was she wrong? Daisy didn’t know. “Hm. Has it?”

“You’ve had it tied back since you left this morning, and you got home late. Come on, sit down,” she chastised. There was no heat behind it, just exasperation. Still, there was no room for argument, and no amount of teasing would get her to give up.

Besides, it had been a long day. It had been a bit since Basira had done her hair, and it would be nice. She moved over to the couch where her partner sat, legs folded under herself, and settled against the cushion, leaning her head against it.

Basira worked quietly, undoing first the tight braid and then the bun that Daisy had done that morning, dropping the pins and hair ties into Daisy’s open hand. Having her hair down lessened the pressure on Daisy’s scalp and eased the headache she had long been ignoring.

Her partner ran her fingers through Daisy’s hair as she gradually worked it into a loose plait. Daisy closed her eyes and relaxed (as much as she was able to, anyway.) Basira chatted softly behind her about the book she had been reading, asking for Daisy’s opinions but getting too excited and answering her own questions.

Daisy smiled. She loved this woman so, so much.

Some time passed like that, silence filled by Basira, who had by now slipped into work gossip, with Daisy occasionally chiming in. The rhythmic feeling of her hair being woven together was almost hypnotic, and she felt herself drift into a half-sleep.

When Basira was done, she reached for one of the elastics she had dropped in Daisy’s hand. Her fingers brushed Daisy’s palm, knocking one of the pins off into the abyss between the cushions. “Shit.”

Daisy folded her hand around Basira’s fingertips. “It’s okay,” Daisy said. The other pins were digging into her palm. It certainly wasn’t comfortable. She didn’t care. “It’s okay.”

And it was.

They sat suspended for what could have been minutes or could have been hours, Daisy didn’t know, until Basira noticed with a jolt that Daisy’s hair had unwound itself at the ends.

She tugged her hand free and laughed. “Can I have the elastic now?”

“Of course, Basira.”

-

Daisy hissed as the bandage on her shoulder shifted against her injury. “I’m okay,” she said, quirking an eyebrow at Basira before she could protest like she clearly wanted to. “It’s already been taken care of, you saw to that.”

Jon had sent Basira to investigate a statement, one he clearly believed was false if his muttering about “wasting Institute time and funds” was anything to go off of. Basira could take care of herself, of course she could, but Daisy had felt an itch urging her to tag along.

In the end, it was just a human man with a knife, upset and defensive at being questioned. They got away easily enough, but not without a few slash wounds. Came with the job, she supposed.

Now, they sat in the tiny bathroom in their flat, disinfectant and medical supplies spread on a towel. The gash on Basira’s arm wasn’t bad, but it definitely needed a few stitches. Daisy methodically cleaned it, slowing when her partner seemed to be in too much pain.

“Okay, are you ready?” she asked, stitching needle cleaned and prepped.

Basira was silent. Even after everything, she was still afraid of needles.

“Would it help if I held your hand?” She’d had plenty of practice stitching one handed. Maybe it would be a little inconvenient, but if it would make the process easier for Basira she’d do it in a heartbeat.

Her partner still said nothing, but reached her uninjured arm around to present it to Daisy. Daisy took her hand in her own and squeezed it.

Neither let go until long after the bandage had been secured.

-

The moonlight, filtered through the slats of the window, lit her partner’s face in a dim glow, soft and gentle and blue. On the job, Basira was so serious, but here and now, barely awake and free from the stress of the day, her face smoothed into an easy smile.

Safety wasn’t a concept familiar to her, it hadn’t been for a long time, but this came close. Basira’s warm brown eyes, so intelligent and perceptive, saw her and knew her and still drew her in until that was all there was.

Daisy reached out, cupping Basira’s jaw with her hand. “I love you,” she whispered. “So much.”

Basira’s smile grew wider. “I know.” She laid her hand on top of Daisy’s. “I love you too.”

As Basira’s breathing evened out and her eyes slipped close, Daisy fully expected her hand to slip down to the pillow. Instead, her grasp tightened, curling firmly around Daisy’s fingers.

Oncoming sleep blurred the edges of her mind, and all she could think of in the moments before it claimed her too was the woman in front of her, their hands intertwined.

**Author's Note:**

> Now featuring [art](https://twitter.com/madvalgo/status/1276246547395743744?s=20) by Val! Thanks so much, they look so good and I love it  
> Find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/pianogavinwrite) and [tumblr!](https://pianogavinwrites.tumblr.com/) Thanks so much for reading :D


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